The Glue That Binds
by xoloveJBox
Summary: What if Nathan and Lucas had a younger sister, Cassie, that uses her love for the both of them to bring the brothers together? AHHH, I'm sorry for the crappy summary. I'm never any good at these things... Give it a read anyway, it might not be so bad!
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Howdy! **_

_**Well, this is my first One tree hill fanfiction :) I've only just started watching the programme, even though it's finished now *sniff sniff* but I'm working my way through dvds hehe. I'm only on season two at the moment, but even through the first episode, I could feel the cogs working in my head lol :D **_

_**Disclaimer: I only own Cassie. No one else :)**_

_**I'm not totally sure about this story, but I've written about three chapters so far, and if people show some interest I'll definitely carry on! So please please PLEASE drop me a review. I'm perfectly happy with receiving ideas/suggestions/criticisms and I'll try my hardest to take on board everything that is said. :)**_

_**My plan for this story is to pretty much follow the programme, with some differences while slotting Cassie into the storylines. :)**_

_**Yeah, so I'm going to stop rambling now haha :D please R+R! It'd make me smile lots and lots :)**_

_**Thanks,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

* * *

Cassie stuffed her hands into her jacket pocket, nervously looking around. She wasn't supposed to be there and she knew it. She had come straight from school, and her plain black backpack was still slung casually over her shoulders. Her father had always told her that it wasn't safe for little girls to walk around alone and most of the time she listened to him, but she knew that he would never have said yes if she'd have asked permission first. Especially where she was heading.

One of her father's main rules was that Cassie was never allowed to go to Uncle Keith's garage unless either her dad or Nathan was with her. Her mother wasn't really around for the rule to apply, and Nathan and Dad hardly ever went either. Usually, this didn't bother Cassie; Uncle Keith dropped in from time to time, and she saw him around town, so she didn't need to go to the garage.

But _he _worked there.

Cassie had heard the whispers about her family, about the older brother she didn't know. She hated that kids in her class often knew more about Lucas than she did, and she didn't even know which parts were true. Cassie couldn't get her head around the fact that Nathan paraded around proud as a peacock just because he was good at throwing a ball through a hoop, while Lucas was ignored.

But Cassie wasn't sure she could do that anymore. She didn't think she could see him around town and not acknowledge who he was. It wasn't fair to anyone, and she was sick of pretending, and she was perfectly willing to deal with whatever was going to come her way because of her actions. She wasn't even sure if Lucas would know who she was, never mind want to talk to her.

Cassie pushed back her dark hair and slid her glasses a little further up her nose with fingers that were barely visible from the end of her sleeves. To distract from the little stabs of anxiety she felt from walking by herself, Cassie listened to her feet on the pavement, the soles of her sneakers tapping on the cement. She smiled and let out a small sigh of relief when she spotted her uncle's garage.

She wondered in casually, listening to the soft sounds of the radio filtering in and the buzzing of tools, as if it were no big deal that she was even there, but when Keith spotted her, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"H-h-hey Uncle K-K-Keith." Cassie had spoken with a stutter for as long as she could remember, and in a lot of situations it was paralysing humiliating, stopping Cassie from talking to people on a social level, but Keith was so used to it now that he barely even noticed.

"Kiddo, what are you doing here?" he asked, looking around for his brother and becoming even more disconcerted when he was nowhere in sight.

"I w-w-wanted to see you." She replied with an overly sweet smile to hide her little white lies. Well, she thought, it wasn't completely a lie; it was just a stretch of the truth.

"Did your dad or Nathan drop you off?" he asked, trying to hide the hopeful undertone in his voice.

"Nope." Cassie answered nonchalantly, though she was mentally waiting for the bomb to go off. "I w-w-walked here from school."  
"Alone?" Keith asked in bewilderment.

"Yep."

"But you're ten."

"Oh really Uncle K-K-Keith? Thanks for c-c-clearing that up for me." She replied sarcastically. She had always been quick-witted, and even Keith had a hard time suppressing a smirk. But while he was muttering things like 'little smart-ass', Cassie subtly looked around, searching for a glimpse of the Pandora's box that formed Lucas. Though she thought she had been fairly attenuate, Keith saw her and a flicker of realisation appeared in his eyes.

"I guess it's not me you're here to see." He murmured softly; not a question, but a definitive statement. Cassie looked at him, a little taken back that she had been found out so easily, but she should have known that she wouldn't be able to keep anything from Uncle Keith. She never could.

"I really wanna see him Uncle Keith." She admitted quietly, looking down and inspecting her feet to avoid Keith's searching gaze.

"I knew you would eventually." Keith told her, rubbing his face with his hand, unsure what exactly he was supposed to do. "Well, he's not here. He's playing basketball, but I don't think there would be too much of a problem if you went over there instead."

It took Cassie a second to realise what Keith had just said. She had expected him to tell her that she couldn't see Lucas, or that Lucas didn't want to see her, but when what Keith had told her finally hit her, she raised her eyes, now glittering, and beamed. However, she had to quickly reign in her excitement to make sure that she would remember the directions that Keith was suddenly giving her to the court that Lucas played basketball.

She arrived at the small riverside playground within a few minutes; Cassie had pretty much run from the garage, though she really had no idea what she was going to do once she got there.

The sun shone warmly on the tar of the court, and Cassie scanned the small group of boys, quickly spotting Lucas darting in and out with such extreme strategy and precision. None of the boys noticed her, and Cassie started to try and work out exactly what her next stage was. She considered calling him over, but then what? What was she supposed to say? When she realised that she had no idea what the answer to those questions were, she decided that the best thing for her to do was to wait for him to be finished and see what happened. Comforted by her solid decision, Cassie moved to sit under a tree to the side of the court. The grass was dry and genially inviting when she ran her fingers through it, and there was a light breeze that made her hair dance around her face.

For a few minutes, Cassie sat and watched him. Lucas was taller than the rest of them, and they weren't all playing. Some of them were perched on the bench at the edge of the court, but they seemed content to be there, as if it were a routine. The first, most striking thing that Cassie noticed was that Lucas was good. Like, _really _good. He got the ball away from his opponents like he was strolling through the park, like it was the easiest, most natural thing in the world to him, like breathing. As Lucas sneakily slipped the ball away again, he let out a sudden loud laugh that took Cassie by surprise. She couldn't remember ever hearing Nathan or her dad laughing when they were playing. For the two of them, basketball was always so serious, as if what happened on the court was actually life or death. It wasn't fun for them, it was necessary; a way of life that might end in disaster if everything wasn't absolutely perfect.

Cassie slid her bag from her shoulders and set it on the floor next to her before bringing her knees up to her chin. Looking at him, she didn't think that Lucas looked much like her dad, or any of her family really. Lucas's hair was a dirty blonde; a lot lighter than any of Cassie's other relatives. He was tall and wiry, while all of the other Scott men she knew tented to be broader, and not quite so tall. He was wearing sweatpants and a grey hooded sweater, and Cassie could make out the name 'Scott' on the back of it, but she knew that it was Keith, not Dan or any other Scott she knew. But there was just something that erased all the doubts she had ever had about whether Lucas really was who everyone said he was. There was just something about the way he moved.

It was just like Nathan.

Suddenly catching herself staring a group made up of potential strangers, Cassie quickly turned away and pulled out a worn, dog-eared paperback from her bag and began to read, slipping into another world that was a lot less complicated than the one she resided in, and a lot easier to deal with when she knew she could confine the difficulties within the covers.

Cassie found herself being abruptly dragged from the fantasy world of the pages when a loud thud resounded on the tree trunk just centimetres above her head. Jumping, Cassie looked around and saw the basketball rolling away slowly, and she grabbed it before it could go too far. She tucked the ball under her arm and slipped the book mark into the page; when she looked up she saw one of the boys jogging towards her. She had to do a quick double-take before she realised that it was Lucas, and she wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

"Oh Jesus Christ, I'm sorry." Lucas called as he approached, with Cassie pulling herself up from the ground "Did it hit you?"

Cassie's heart was beating in her throat. She opened her mouth to speak but no sound escaped. He came closer and Cassie could finally see what made everyone so sure.

His eyes. They were the same as hers.

Aware that she was gaping like an idiot, Cassie shook her head.

"The game just got a bit out of hand, that's all." Lucas explained, still sounding apologetic. Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm f-f-fine." Cassie assured him quietly, though she was mentally cursing herself for her inability to speak like a normal person, reaching forwards with the ball. Lucas gave a lop-sided grin in thanks when he took it, and as he turned away, he spotted the paperback lying in the grass.

"What are you reading?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, err," Cassie stammered, slightly caught off-guard by the seemingly random question. Nerves and anxiety always made her speech pattern worse, and she could feel her cheeks growing pink from the undiluted attention. "H-H-Harry P-P-Potter."

Lucas smiled again. If he noticed Cassie's stutter, which she knew he must have done, he was really convincing in not showing it. "I remember reading those. Anyway, I'm sorry again, and thanks."

Cassie watched as Lucas gave her a quick, friendly wave and jogged back to his friends. She didn't think that there was anything else that could or would be said at that moment, so she grabbed up her bag and, with an unbreakable secret smile, she started walking home.

When he returned to the group, Lucas didn't notice everyone looking at him, and he was ready to give straight back into the game.

"Come on, you guys ready?" he asked when no one moved to be prepared to play.

"You know who that was?" Skills asked with a small frown, nodding his head towards the descending figure.

"Who? The girl?"

Skills nodded, but he could already tell what the answer was.

"Dude, that's Cassidy Scott. She's your sister."

It took a second for Lucas to fully register what his friend was telling him. The information slowly ebbed into his brain and, bewildered, he looked back just in time to see the young girl turning around the corner, out of sight.

* * *

_**A/N 2: If you're reading this, you read the whole first chapter so THANK YOU MILLIONS!**_

_**xxx**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Hello! How's everyone?**_

_**Well, first off I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! And all the people who have signed up for**_

_**alerts! I was so impressed, and it was really unexpected haha. To say thank you, I'm posting the next chapter a little earlier than I planned to :)**_

_**One thing that I did want to mention was Cassie's stutter. I was reading on the internet about how to properly write a stutter, and I got the impression that if I wrote the stutter everytime, it would get on people's nerves? What do you guys think? I don't mind writing it everytime (in fact, it's probably better for me to get it right in my head) but at the same time, I don't it to seem like the problem had magically disappeared :s I might only write the stutter every now and again to stop it from getting too repetitive. Please let me know what you guys think because it would really help me out when it comes to writing future chapters. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own one tree hill. I wish I did, but I don't so that sucks for me haha**_

_**As always, let me know what you think!**_

_**Virtual hugs!**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

* * *

As soon as the bell rang the next afternoon, Cassie grabbed her things feverishly and bounded happily out of the building. She planned to go back to the river-court, to see Lucas again. Cassie knew that their fleeting conversation the day before had been a fluke, but she didn't care; the chance of it happening again was slim, but all too tempting.

However, she jumped in surprise when she reached the gate and almost collided with Lucas.

"Cassidy. Cassidy Scott, right?" he murmured in a low tone before Cassie had a chance to recover from her startled state. She gave a small, almost unnoticeable nod, wondering how he had known.

"You somehow forgot to mention that one to me yesterday." Lucas spoke with a velvety purr that Cassie found slightly comforting; it wasn't like what she had expected, but she was sure that, in the countless times she had pictured the first moment of speaking to her older brother, she had imagined him sounding more like Nathan or their father. However, no matter how many times she had envisioned meeting Lucas, the awkwardness that she suddenly felt had never been a part of it.  
Cassie pulled her fingers down into her sleeve, shifted her bag on her shoulders uncomfortably, and looked down at the ground sheepishly. She was trying to work out what Lucas' voice was telling her. Not his words, but the sound of him. His voice was soft, and didn't seem to be angry; but then, she thought, nobody did in comparison with her father, whose voice was always booming with blame.

"I was w-w-worried that you wouldn't want to t-t-talk to me if you knew who I was." She whispered apologetically as hoards of overly eager school children whizzed past the two of them with unabashed levels of superabundant noise, totally unaware of what was going on.

"But you wanted to talk to me?" Lucas asked curiously, after a minute of confused silence between the pair.

Cassie nodded, the only thing she was totally sure of at that moment.

"Why?" Lucas questioned, furrowing his eyebrows slightly. Cassie tried for a few long seconds to make her reasons sound better than they really were, to make them sound more impressive, but whenever she tried to change the words, she found that they didn't explain it right, so she decided to just go with what she was thinking.

"You're my brother too, whether Dad and Nathan like it or not." She told him honestly, readying herself for him to laugh and walk away.

But he didn't. In fact, he took a step towards her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweater.

"Why now?" he asked, unsure whether he completely understood what was seemingly unfolding in front of him.

"I can't pretend." She admitted simply, realising that it was the first time she had even answered that question for herself and, totally engrossed in the moment, Cassie didn't even notice that she didn't stutter or stumble over any of the words.

"Where were you going?" Lucas asked her quietly, noticing that the girl had traces of tears in her eyes, and he couldn't find anything to suggest that she was lying.

"I was going to go back to that p-p-playground you were at yesterday. Were you g-g-going there too?" Cassie could hear her voice shaking slightly, so she took a deep but subtle breath to keep herself under control.

But when Lucas shook his head, she felt her heart drop a little.

"We don't play there every day." He told her "Do you want me to walk you home or something?"

As soon as Lucas said the words, he didn't know why he had. He had only met the girl once before, and he hadn't even known who she was then. So why did he find that he felt so comfortable with her? She was a stranger but, at the same time, familiar. He felt like he knew her, like she had always been around, and he almost laughed at the thought. This was Nathan Scott's little sister, but that was when it really hit him.

_She was his sister too._

The only other person Lucas disliked more in the world was the father they shared, but no matter how much he tried, Lucas couldn't muster up any feelings of hostility or negativity towards Cassidy. There was just something about the small, slight girl in front of him with the mass of dark curls, and large, inquisitive, laser-beam green eyes that made Lucas feel something he had never experienced before, something he couldn't identify or explain to himself. He even felt disappointed when she shook her head.

"Oh," he sighed "Ok then." He mumbled, turning away to leave. Caught off-guard, Cassie didn't even react until he had taken a few long strides away.

"Wait!" She suddenly blurted, surprising even herself with how clear it sounded, making Lucas turn back to her "I didn't m-m-mean that I didn't want to walk with you. I just don't want to go home yet."

Lucas gave a small smile and inclined his head forwards, indicating for her to follow, and Cassie beamed before running to catch up with him.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Hello!  
Ok, well, I meant to post this the other day, but I forgot :/ Sorry haha but anyway, it's here now lol**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill. End of. Blehh**_

_**I don't think there's anything else right now...**_

_**Please R+R! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed already! Let me know what you think, the reviews really help, and they make me feel good that people are interested enough to leave a review :D**_

_**Au revoir,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

* * *

"Do you think Dan put her up to it?"  
The next afternoon, Lucas and Keith were busy working under the hood of a particularly battered vehicle that had been delivered to the garage that morning. They had worked in comfortable, companionable silence for a while, but Lucas's question had been bugging him all day, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to get it off his mind until he finally asked it.  
"Who?" Keith asked, still looking into the dark depths of beneath the bonnet.  
"Cassie." Lucas replied, as if the answer was obvious. He hadn't thought about the fact that just because the events of the previous two afternoons had been almost constantly replaying in his head, didn't mean it had for everyone else.  
Lucas braced himself for the answer he had been honestly dreading. But he was pleasantly surprised when it didn't come. However, he didn't expect the reaction he did get from Keith.  
"No, definitely not." Keith laughed, clearly amused by Lucas's slightly paranoid suggestion.  
"How do you know? And what's so funny?" Lucas exclaimed, standing up to glare, only half jokingly, at his Uncle's reaction.  
"Nothing," Keith answered, trying to rein in his slowly fading chuckles "It's just that I've never met a child who's less like her parents than Cassie."  
"Not even me?" Lucas asked with a slightly bitter tone, one particular parent in mind.  
"Not even you." Keith confirmed, taking on a suddenly sterner tone when he realised what direction the conversation was going. "You have your mom. Cassie doesn't have that."  
"How come?" Lucas had always been close with his mother, and he couldn't quite wrap his head around the idea of anyone else not having the same kind of comfortable relationship.  
"You've got to understand that Nathan was thrust into basketball at a very young age. By the time Cassie was born, Deb was sick of hearing about it. I think Deb wanted someone to relate to, and Cassie just wasn't it."  
Lucas wasn't sure what to say or think. He knew what it was like to not get along with one parent, but to not get along with both? It made him wonder what growing up had been like for Cassie, and he couldn't help but think that it was torture. Lucas knew that Keith must have guessed what he was thinking, because Keith didn't wait for Lucas to respond before carrying on.  
"Look, Luke, Cassie's a lonely kid. She's looking for somewhere she belongs, and she's finally feeling brave enough to ignore all the things her dad and brother have always said, and reaching she's out to you. Give her a chance, and you'll see that she's not like Dan. She's a lot like you actually."  
"Well, why now?" Lucas questioned, leaning back over the engine to continue working. "I've been around the whole time."

"I think she's only just realising what the idea of _you _actually means." Keith told him honestly, momentarily stopping to wipe the grease from his fingers. When Keith saw the conflicting expression on Lucas's face, he put down the dirty rag and looked at him intently. "I think you're reading way too much into this." He continued. "You're picturing it like Cassie thinks like Dan, like she would do this to mess with you, but she wouldn't. I promise you that."

Keith could tell that Lucas really wanted to believe what he was being told, but he clearly was not yet convinced. Keith sighed, slightly exasperated.  
"I don't know why now," he shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Did you ask her?"  
"Kind of, yeah."  
"And what did she say?"  
"That she couldn't pretend anymore."  
"If that's what she said, then that's what she means." Keith assured him firmly "Cassie finds it hard enough to express herself without her own words being the wrong ones."  
The certainty in Keith's voice comforted Lucas, making him sure of the non-threatening vibes he had received from the girl. Then Lucas almost laughed out loud. Would he have even gotten threatening vibes from a ten year old?  
"What's with that anyway?" Lucas asked, his mind drifting slightly. "The stuttering."  
"I'm not sure." Keith answered simply "She's always had problems speaking. You don't really notice it after a while."  
"What do I do? When she stutters, I mean. Do I try and help her out, or just wait for her to finish or what?"  
Lucas hadn't meant to ask about the stuttering in so much detail. It didn't really matter to him, but if Cassie was used to people reacting in one way, he didn't want to make her feel awkward by doing something else.  
"Just be patient; tell her to take her time and don't rush her. She'll either push through or find a different way to say it."  
While Lucas took a minute to let the advice sink into his mind, Keith took the opportunity to look intently at his nephew, looking for something that may indicate that the whole situation was a bad idea. Keith was delighted by the idea of Cassie and Lucas being close, and he had always intended on helping the matter along when Cassie was a little older, but he was painfully aware of all the things that might go wrong, and some of them just weren't worth the risk.  
"So does this mean you intend to spend a little time with Cassie?" Keith asked, mentally crossing his fingers and hoping for an affirmation.  
"Yeah," Lucas replied with a small but genuine grin "We talked for a little bit yesterday, and she seems like a nice enough kid. And well, she is my sister. If she wants to talk to me, then I'm willing to try, even if it means admitting to sharing DNA with Dan Scott."  
"I'm glad about that Luke, I really am. And I don't think you'll regret it either." Keith smile at Lucas for a minute before looking back into the insides of the car. "Now come on, this thing isn't going to fix itself."


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Howdy! **_

_**I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry. :/ I've been watched the show (YAY) but now I'm waiting for season six to come :( But this is a relatively long chapter, so hopefully that makes up for it :D I'm still trying to work out exactly where I'm going with this story, though I do have some ideas, so bare with me. Also, I'm playing with the idea of another sister fic, but with a different character as the sister, a different approach to it. Anyway...yeah...**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own OTH. End of really :D**_

_**This chapter includes dialogue from Season 1, episode 1 for context purposes only!**_

_**Anyway, as always, please please please leave me a review! I love reading them, and they are always immensely helpful in letting me know what people like/don't like etc etc etc. Plus, they make me feel good to know that people are interested enough to leave a review/message...**_

_**Alright, I'm going to go away now and let you just get on with reading lol.**_

_**Thanks again,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

* * *

The hot summer sun beat heartily down on the vibrant green grass as Cassie squinted her eyes to see the page in front of her. The sound of the water gushing slightly in the light breeze to one side of her, and the whooshing of the ball passing through the hoop on her other served as a comfort to her reading, but after a few minutes she put the book down anyway, content on simply watching her brother play. Cassie knew that, for her, there was only one thing that would make the afternoon better.

Watching _both _of her brothers' play. Together.

It had only been a few days since she had first started spending time with Lucas, and she hadn't told anyone but her Uncle Keith. Lucas's friends at the river court knew as well, but they had all been sworn to secrecy, each promising not to breathe a word. Cassie had enjoyed hanging out with them, along with Lucas, and she had laughed at their playful banter together. Cassie was surprised by how easily she had been welcomed by Lucas's friends, sitting on the picnic bench with Mouth while the others played. They had made her feel like it was nothing out of the ordinary that she was suddenly there, like she belonged somewhere, and Cassie couldn't remember the last time she had felt like that.

"Hey Lucas," Cassie suddenly yelled, feeling the need to get up and stretch her legs for a while. "Can I play with you?"

"Sure, come on." Luke replied, stopping momentarily in his solitary game to smile encouragingly at her.

Cassie beamed and stood, brushing herself off "I've got to w-w-warn you, I'm not very g-g-good." She laughed as she stepped onto the steaming concrete of the court.

"That's ok, neither am I." Lucas joked, and he threw her the ball. Cassie caught it, but only just, and within a few minutes, Lucas realised that she had not been fooling around or exaggerating. She fumbled over the ball, and she spent more time chasing after it after dropping it than actually playing.

"You really don't play much at all, do you?" Lucas chuckled as she once again let the ball bounce off across the court.

"N-n-no, I don't" Cassie answered as she retrieved it and jogged back over.

"You don't play with your dad and Nathan?" Lucas questioned with a slight frown. He knew what Nathan Scott was like, hot-shot of the basketball team, and he couldn't imagine that it was much of an ego boost for either Dan or Nathan that Cassie's basketball skills were so painfully dismal.

"It's not fun p-p-playing with them." Cassie replied, the smile on her cheeks faltering slightly.

"How come?"

"They don't p-p-play for fun." Cassie shrugged simply "Everything's a competition, and it's not exactly enjoyable when they make you f-f-feel stupid for not being as g-g-good as they are."

"That sucks," Lucas replied, trying to sound meaningful "Basketball's fun and it ruins it when you can't just enjoy the game."

"Will you t-t-teach me?" She asked gingerly. Cassie had always secretly yearned to feel the rush her father and Nathan always described when they talked about basketball, but she usually alternated between being too proud or too nervous to ask them to help her experience it with them.

Lucas stayed silent for a moment, and Cassie wondered if she had done something wrong by asking him, but that thought was banished from her head when a grin spread on Lucas's face, and he nodded eagerly.

For a little while, the two of them were totally engrossed in Lucas's teaching Cassie the basics, starting with simply how to catch and throw the ball properly. When Lucas looked at his sister's face, he could tell that she was completely lost in what they were doing, so enveloped with fascination and determination, and he wondered whether he had carried the same expression when he had been first learning the game.

"You know," Lucas said after a few minutes "The coach at school asked me to join the team today."

"That's g-g-great!" Cassie exclaimed sincerely, and she remembered a conversation she had had with her Uncle Keith the afternoon before, while she had been waiting at the garage for Lucas to finish work.

"_...He's incredible, Uncle Keith." Cassie had told him excitedly as he worked under the hood of a car. "You should see him play."  
"Cass, I have seen him play." Keith reminded her with a soft smile, but Cassie wasn't listening, and he knew it. She was too busy rambling about how awesome her big brother was, and honestly, Keith didn't want to discourage her. He knew that it was important to Cassie to get to know Lucas, and from conversations he had had with his nephew, Keith knew that it was growing to be increasingly important to Lucas too._

"_He's just as good as Nathan," Cassie continued in a seemingly endless stream of chatter "In some ways, he's better. But no one sees him except me, you and his friends. It's not fair Uncle Keith." It certainly hadn't escaped Keith's attention that he hadn't heard his niece stutter once since she had arrived that afternoon, and when he thought about it, the occurrences of the impediment was decreasing in frequency a lot since she had starting hanging out with Lucas._

"_No, you're right Kiddo, it's not fair." Keith replied, an idea forming slowly in his mind. He decided it was about time he paid a visit to Whitey Durham..._

"Are you going to go for it?" Cassie asked when she emerged from her recollection.

"I don't know," Lucas shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "I mean, what difference does it make if I play here or in the gym at school?"

"People can w-w-watch you at school." Cassie replied simply, as if the answer was obvious.

"People watch me _here. _You watch me here, and so do my friends." Lucas argued, absent-mindedly bouncing the ball against the tarmac while he spoke.

"Your friends and I can watch you at school too, and do you know who else can watch you at school? _College scouts._ Trust me, that's all Nathan's talked about since he was eleven. I mean, you want to go to college, right?"  
"I don't know," Lucas replied, growing slightly defensive over how serious the conversation had suddenly turned. Even his mother didn't ask him about college yet, and his ten year old sister was?

However, before either of them had a chance to comment further on the situation, they were interrupted by the sound of a car rumbling loudly in their direction, and as soon as Cassie saw it, she knew who it was.

"Oh c-c-crap." She muttered breathily, before taking off. She snatched her bag from where it had been dumped on the grass and hid behind a large oak tree that resided at the side of the court, mentally praying that she had disappeared before she was spotted. Lucas watched in bewilderment, not having a clue what was going on until the car pulled up, and Nathan got out.

Lucas's gaze instantly turned steely, annoyed that his haven had been intruded. He glared menacingly at the dark haired boy as he sauntered across the court; a cocky, arrogant attitude scrawled all of his face.

"What do you want?" Lucas growled; his voice low and his jaw jutted out defiantly.

"What do I want?" Nathan sneered with a smirk on his face that quickly turned darker "What do _you_ want, man? I mean, other than my girlfriend and my spot in the line-up, huh?"

Lucas could feel anger coursing through his veins, and he clenched his fists, jamming them in his pockets to stop them from swinging. If it hadn't been for his knowledge of Cassie hiding behind the tree a few feet away, he might not have been so bothered to restrain them. Instead he stayed quiet and let Nathan continue, even though Lucas knew that the other boy took his silence for something it wasn't.

"None of us want you on the team, man. I don't want you. The guys don't want you. My girlfriend sure as hell doesn't want you. But here's the deal. You and me, one on one. You can name the time and place. If you win, I'll quit the team. If I win, you crawl back in your little hole and you remember your place in all this. Time and place, baby. Time and place."

Cassie listened as Nathan spat the words, and she couldn't believe that she related to such a childish, self-loving being as Nathan was. But then, she thought, thinking of their father, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She just hoped that she didn't come across in the same way.

Lucas didn't trust himself to be civilised, so he still didn't say anything. Nathan held out his arms arrogantly, waiting for an answer from the other boy. When he didn't get one, Nathan gave a wide, smug grin and laughed mockingly before turning, shaking his head and chuckling to himself as he got back into his car. Lucas scowled, annoyed that he had come across as pathetic, and watched as the car swung around and raced down the street. He waited until Nathan was completely out of sight before looking around to the tree.

"Alright Cass, he's gone." He called, and watched as Cassie popped her head around the trunk, as if checking for herself. She let out a long breath and emerged again, picking up the ball that had rolled, forgotten, across the court.

"Well, that was...interesting." she mumbled.


	5. Chapter 5

**_A/N: Howdy!  
I know it's been a while again :/ Sorry... I've been watching the show lol, and I'm on the last season now :( but anyway..._**

**_Disclaimer: OTH isn't mine, but I can pretend for a while, right? _**

**_This chapter contains dialogue from 1x01 for context purposes only!_**

**_As always, reviews/messages/ideas/suggestions/constructive criticism is much appreciated! Thank you for everyone who has favourited/alerted/reviewed so far! Each one means so much to me, and they really do act as motivation for me to carry on writing. Not to mention how good they make me feel to see, knowing that people are interesting enough in something that I had wrote. So yeah, you know what to do..._**

**_Let me know what you think!_**

**_love lots,_**

**_xoloveJBox_**

* * *

The house was almost completely silent as Cassie crept down the stairs. Nathan had already left for his late night one-to-one with Lucas; her father was buried deep in his office, pretending to work; and Cassie had long since lost track and interest in where her mother was. To protect herself from the night time breeze, Cassie had thrown on an oversized hooded jacket, had tied her hair up and away from her face, and had pulled on an extra pair of socks.

Armed with her skateboard tucked under her arm, Cassie snuck out the front door and ran down the long driveway before getting onto the board, eager to get away from the house unnoticed. She knew that she would be in trouble if she was caught alone during the day, but at night was a different matter. She knew that she was running the risk of being grounded for the rest of her life, but she didn't care. For days, all she had heard from Nathan was that she wasn't going to let Lucas win, so Cassie wanted to make sure that Lucas knew he had some support. Cassie had spent days asking Luke what he was going to do, and while she wasn't sure what had decided for him, she was secretly glad that he had chosen to take part in Nathan's silly challenge. No one ever stood up to Nathan, and Cassie knew that it wouldn't hurt her brother to know what a slightly bruised ego felt like. Especially if Lucas was the one to bruise it.

It didn't take Cassie long to get to the river court, and she could see immediately that a lot of people had shown up to watch. She wasn't surprised. For Nathan, there was a lot at stake, and no one expected him to lose. Most of them had only come to watch Lucas get humiliated.

Cassie pushed her way through the almost solid wall of larger bodies, and she knew that she had only just arrived in time. However, the sound of her voice had attracted the attention of both her brothers, and they each turned to her, shocked expressions plastered on their faces.

"Cassie? What do you think you're doing here?" Nathan demanded angrily.

"I wanted to watch you guys play" She told them, the mischievous smile sliding from her face when she realised that her two brothers were not as enthusiastic as she was.

"Did you come alone?" Lucas asked, concern etched into his features. Cassie nodded dejectedly, disappointed by the boys' reaction to her initiative.

"Cassidy, you're ten. That was a really stupid thing to do. You could have gotten hurt, or lost." Nathan chastised her irritably.

"No, I know the way." Cassie argued defensively before she could stop herself "I've been here lots of times with Lucas."

"What?" Nathan looked angrily between Cassie and Lucas, stunned that he hadn't known.

"We've been hanging out after school for a little while." Cassie explained, mumbling into her chest.

Nathan scowled darkly at Lucas "Let's get this over with so that I can take _my _sister home."

Cassie was about to argue that she was Lucas' sister too, but Lucas shot her a warning glance, and she remained silent. Instead, Lucas led her over to where Haley stood.

"Stay here." Lucas told Cassie softly with hints of sternness seeping into his tone "Don't move away from Hayley."

Cassie nodded obediently and smiled when Lucas gave her a wink before wandering back over to Nathan. Nathan glanced at Hayley, slightly intrigued by the girl, but was quickly distracted by Lucas' return, and the prospect of another victory.

"You ready for this?" Nathan asked as he roughly tossed Lucas the ball, letting it slap off the asphalt between them first.

"Why not." Lucas replied nonchalantly.

"It's your life." Nathan shrugged.

"Yeah," Lucas replied, "it is."

It took a matter of seconds for Lucas to score, and there was a mixed reaction from the crowd.

"Go ahead man; I can do that all night." Nathan sneered as he retrieved the ball and threw it back to Lucas. Lucas scored again before Nathan even had a chance to stop him, and Cassie began to allow herself to enjoy what was going on. It didn't hurt that Nathan was getting his butt kicked either.

"What happened to all night?" Lucas muttered back, and Cassie saw Nathan glare.

Lucas made a move to score again, but this time, Nathan was ready, and he swiftly took the ball from Lucas' hands.

"That all you got?" he goaded "If that's all you got, then this is over."  
Nathan made his first shot, starting the succession of both boys scoring several times. It looked like a fairly even game, until Nathan hit Lucas in the face with his elbow, making Cassie, Hayley and the rest of the court gasp in unison. Nathan took the gap in Lucas' defence as an opportunity to score again, while Lucas was doubled over, holding his face. Cassie wondered if she should make sure that he was ok, but before she made an attempt to move, Lucas spat blood a few times and stood back up, coming back into the game.

"No foul," Lucas muttered in a low, even tone to mask his growing anger "basket counts."

Nathan shrugged, clearly contained in an arrogant self-amusement before Lucas added "Besides, you won't score again."

Lucas expertly stopped Nathan's next shot by slamming the ball into the board at the back of the hoop and scored himself. Cassie worked out in her head that Lucas was only down by one basket.

"Down by one," Nathan sneered "Don't choke now."

Lucas scored again, evening the score.

"He's never mentioned you man," Nathan taunted "Not one in all these years."  
Cassie scowled; irritated that Nathan would sink to such dirty tactics just to win.

"This is for my mom." Lucas told him, seemingly unaffected by Nathan's words.

They moved swiftly across the court, nimble as dancers. Lucas dodged Nathan's attempts to grab the ball from him, taking a final jump shot, knowing that if he didn't make it, he would lose.

Time seemed to freeze as the crowd eagerly drunk in the game, and Cassie seemed to hold her breath in anticipation.

Lucas scored, and the whole world seemed to erupt into an almost ear-splitting mixture of cheers and groans. Cassie gave a smug grin when she realised that the former outweighed the latter.

A large group of people suddenly swarmed Lucas, basking in his victory, but Lucas himself didn't care. It had never been about Nathan Scott. It had been about proving that he could, if he wanted to.

Obviously fuming, Nathan simply grabbed Cassie's arm and dragged her towards Tim's car. He didn't even look at Peyton as they stalked past. Cassie shot a glance over her shoulder, wishing she could stay with Lucas a little longer, to at least let him know that she was proud of him. That was important to her, but she knew that she was in trouble now. Especially with the dark mood Nathan had sunk into. There was no getting away from it now, so she simply let herself be led away.

Cassie was surprised when Nathan stopped to wait for Peyton. She hadn't expected it because he didn't usually take the time to bother, but when she turned, Cassie suspected that it was more to do with the fact that Peyton was talking to Lucas.

"So what did you bet?" Peyton asked gingerly, though she thought she already knew the answer.

"I win, Nathan stays on the team." Lucas replied.  
"Why?" Peyton queried, curious.

"Because it's the last thing he wants." Lucas admitted, and Cassie had to fight to suppress a laugh.

"And anyway," Lucas added "It's not about him."

"Peyton," Nathan called impatiently with an expectant expression plastered on his face as he kept a firm grip on Cassie's wrist. Peyton looked and then turned back to Lucas nervously, but Lucas remained cool.

"I'll be seeing ya." He promised Peyton before shooting a wink to Cassie.

Lucas waited patiently for the car to carry his two half-siblings away before pulling his phone from his pocket and quickly dialling a familiar number.

"Hello?" Keith grumbled, his voice thick with sleep after Lucas had listened to the dialling tone a few times. He only had to say two words to his uncle for Keith to know what was going on.

"Dan knows."


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Hey all! How is everyone?**_

_**I know it's been aaaaages since I posted anything for this story, and I'm really sorry :( I hit a brick wall for a little while with this story, but I think I've gotten around it for now. Thank you so much to everyone who has continued to stick with me, no matter how crappy and inconsistent I am haha :) I'm going to try and make fairly regular updates for this story, but I'm not sure how well this will work at least until after January, because I have exams :(**_

_**I'm thinking of starting a 2nd sisfic for OTH with a different character and a different approach, if anyone's interested?**_

_**Disclaimer: I wish I owned OTH, but I don't, no matter how much I kick and scream and cry (trust me, I've tried haha)**_

_**Please please PLEASE guys, let me know what you think! I'd love some feedback, even if it isn't positive (constructive criticism only please. I fully believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but there's no need to be mean for the sake of it haha). If you don't want to leave a review, PM me instead if you want! I don't mind :D Ideas/requests/suggestions/loves/hates are also very much welcomed :D**_

_**Thanks soooo much! Please R+R!**_

_**lots of virtual love,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

* * *

Nathan hadn't really meant to get Cassie into trouble. He really hadn't. Yes, he was in a foul mood, but he still intended to help her sneak back to her room so that their father could be none the wiser to her midnight escapades, and he could talk to her himself about how stupid she had been. But that look their Dad had given him, when he'd walked through the door, knowing that he'd lost, was too much for Nathan to deal with.

"Don't worry Dad," he muttered "You're dreams are safe."

Nathan knew that his dad didn't give a damn that he'd been humiliated by his loss; he only cared because he still thought that losing the bet meant that Nathan was off the team.

The realisation stung Nathan. His whole life he'd done nothing but try and please his father, and he'd always thrived under the pressure, regardless of whether or not he liked it, and Nathan resented the disappointed look he was getting from his father after just one loss.

"Wait here," he muttered quietly to Cassie as he went to toss his dirty clothes in the washer. However, he hadn't been quite as subtle as he thought he had been, and Dan furrowed his brow slightly and walked over to see Cassie hiding in the doorway.

"Cassidy, what are you doing out here?" he accused. Cassie opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't push out a decent enough answer as quickly as she needed to.

"I took her with me." Nathan lied, and Cassie shot her brother a grateful glance.

"What?" Dan boomed "Do you know what time it is? She's ten Nathan."

"I know but she heard me talking about it, and she wanted to come." Nathan argued indignantly "It's not a big deal Dad."

"Not a big deal?" Dan spat maliciously "Not only did you lose to _him, _but you took your sister to watch."

Nathan's cheeks flushed a violent shade of crimson with embarrassment and he felt his irritation spike to new levels.

"I don't even know what the problem is." Cassie mumbled nervously "It's only a game."

"God Cassie," Nathan snapped venomously "Why don't you just go running back to Lucas, see if he still thinks it's just a game now that he won."

All three of them froze, still in the doorway, shocked by what Nathan had blurted. Nathan hadn't meant to get his sister into trouble. He really hadn't.

"What are you talking about?" Dan asked, but Nathan looked guiltily at the floor.

"What is he talking about?" Dan yelled, turning to Cassie, whose eyes were filling with tears.

"I've b-b-been hanging out with L-L-Lucas, after s-s-school." She whispered, inspecting the carpet under her feet.

Dan stayed silent for a minute. When Cassie looked up at him, his face was growing redder by the minute, and Cassie couldn't help but think that if they had been in a cartoon, there would be plumes of steam erupting from her father's ears.

"What did you say?" Dan asked, completely calmly, and it only made the whole thing more baneful.

"You heard me!" Cassie yelled, suddenly angry herself "And I'm not sorry!"

Cassie went to dart up the stairs, but Dan grabbed her wrist to stop her, and she yelped in surprise. As he dragged her into the kitchen, Nathan wanted to step in, wanted to tell his father to let her go, and he wanted to scoop his sister up and carry her to her room like he had done when she'd been smaller, but he couldn't make his body obey as he heard Dan start to scream at Cassie.

Nathan hadn't meant to get his sister into trouble. He really hadn't.

A knock on the front door snapped Nathan out of his almost trance like state and, slightly confused about who might come so late, he pulled the door open to reveal his uncle Keith. It suddenly clicked to him that Keith had probably been involved from the beginning, and Nathan found himself a touch less annoyed at his sister. At least she hadn't been acting behind _everyone's _backs, and there'd been at least one adult who knew where she was and who she was with during her afterschool escapades.

"He's in the kitchen." Nathan muttered to his uncle, knowing what he must be there for, and Keith gave his nephew a comforting pat on the back as he walked past, causing Nathan to wonder, not for the first time, how such a nice guy could be related to his dad.

Nathan could hear Cassie sobbing, and he couldn't bring himself to escape to the solitude of his room without her, so he followed Keith into the kitchen.

Dan was thrown from his flow of shouting when Keith walked in, clearly caught off guard. Cassie roughly wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve when the two of them entered. She wasn't going to waste anymore on Dan Scott.

Dan glared at his older brother as he came to the same realisation that Nathan had a few minutes before.

"You knew about this didn't you?" he hissed, and Keith shrugged nonchalantly.

"You must have known that this was going to happen eventually Danny." Keith stated softly.

"That wasn't your choice to make Keith." Dan spat with a scowl.

"You're right." Keith retorted simply "It was Cassie's."

"Cassidy is ten years old Keith." Dan replied "She doesn't understand."

"Yes I do!" Cassie argued, her cheeks still pink and puffy from crying, but a steely determination set defiantly on her face. "I know that you had Lucas at about the same time as you had Nathan, but Lucas has a different mom. I understand that for some reason, you don't treat Lucas the same as you do Nathan. You never even talk about him."

Dan sighed "Cassie, I only do what I think is best for you and your brother."

"You didn't even know she was gone Dad." Nathan muttered, bringing himself into the conversation, but Dan ignored him.

"'Brother'? Which one dad? _I have two." _Cassie argued defiantly.

"You listen to me right now young lady" Dan huffed irritably when he realised that Cassie wasn't paying attention to anything he was saying "You're not to talk to him anymore, got it?"  
"But Dad I-"

"No Cassidy, you live under _my _roof, and _my _rules." Dan answered sharply "You are a part of this family and I-"

"If being a part of this family means I that I have to stab my brother in the back like this then I don't want to be!" Cassie interrupted.

Dan cringed "Don't call him that."

"Why not Dad?" She exclaimed "Whether you like it or not, Lucas _is _my brother. His whole life you've treated him like something to be ashamed of, but guess what? I'm not ashamed of him! The only person I'm ashamed of if you!"

Dan didn't even really think about it before outstretching his hand and letting it swipe across his daughter's face. It wasn't hard, but her hand flew immediately to her stinging cheek, and the world began to flood again.

"Dad!" Nathan yelled, stepping in front of his sister at the same time as Keith called "That's enough Dan."

Dan took a deep, calming breath before turning to Cassie, speaking quietly and carefully.

"You are not to talk to him anymore Cassidy, do you understand me?"

Cassie didn't trust herself to speak at that moment, so she kept her eyes low and simply nodded, determined that her father wasn't going to see the tears that he had once again elicited.

"Cassidy, you're making the right choice." Dan tried to assure her, speaking gently.

Cassie gave a small, dark, bitter laugh "No dad, you're making the choice, not me, and I hate you for it. If I can't speak to _all _of my family, then I don't want to speak to any of you!"

Before any of them had chance to say anything else, Cassie jumped down from her chair and ran from the room, bounding up the stairs and a second later, they heard her bedroom door slam.

"Nice job Dad." Nathan muttered rancorously, turning and stalking out of the room, following Cassie up the stairs.

"You really don't know what you're doing to her, do you?" Keith asked his brother incredulously after a moment of contemplative silence between the two brothers.

"Oh, mind your own damn business Keith. You know nothing about my family." Dan dissented bitterly.

"Really?" Keith questioned with a sceptical glance "Tell me Dan, when was the last time you heard Cassie stutter? Because I know that after just a few weeks of spending time with Lucas, I've hardly heard her."

Dan didn't want to participate in whatever game Keith was trying to play with him, but he unintentionally found himself searching through mental files, looking for the last time he _had_ heard Cassie stutter. He opened his mouth to argue, determined not to let his brother be right and have the final word, but he really couldn't think of anything to say. He saw a veil of red cloud his vision when Keith's mouth twisted into a small, satisfied smirk.

"Just think about that Danny." Keith finished before heading out himself, leaving Dan to stand alone, speechless, in the tattered shreds of his family.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: Hey guys! Ahhh It's been so long and I'm sorry. I had major writers block for this story, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure it's gone, but we'll see haha**_

_**I apologise in advance for this chapter. It's very jumpy, and I think it's really crap, but no matter how much I re-wrote it, I didn't like it, so -.- On the plus side, I'm totally on a roll today! haha This is the second story I've updated today, and I intend to go an update at least one more before I go to bed tonight :D The other one I updated was the 2nd chapter of my other OTH sisfic, called 'Montana Hearts' so please, check that one out and let me know what you think :) The character in that one is completely different to Cassie in this one, so they shouldn't clash too much ;) (Though on MH, I accidently uploaded a chapter of another story by mistake, but I've changed it now, so if you already read that and ended up reading a chapter from a Supernatural sisfic, I'm sorry, but it's been corrected now!)**_

_**Ok, I'm gonna stop my silly rambling now! Check out Montana Hearts, and R+R this one too pweeety please?**_

_**Much love,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

* * *

_**Chapter Seven.**_

The next morning, Cassie came downstairs, ready for school with her bag pack slipped over her shoulder.

"Morning Cassidy." Dan chimed overly-cheerfully as she entered. Cassie merely scowled darkly at him before grabbing the cereal box from the cupboard. Just like every morning, Cassie made two bowls of cereal-one for her, and one for Nathan- but when he came down a few minutes later, she didn't even look at him. Nathan was surprised to see his breakfast waiting for him on the counter, because he hadn't expected Cassie to still be extending that routine.

"Thanks Cass," he tried with a small grin, but Cassie barely spared him a glance. Nathan sighed. By the stormy expression on his sister's face, he guessed that they were not forgiven, and he suspected that Dan had already made things worse this morning. He didn't know how he knew, he just did.

The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes, before Dan peered over the top of his newspaper.

Cassie looked like she wasn't going to respond for a second, but then she gave a small nod.

"Nathan will pick you up after school today Cassidy, so don't go wondering off, ok?"

Cassie looked like she wasn't going to respond for a second, but then she gave a small nod, clearly not impressed.

"Maybe we could go get ice-cream." Nathan suggested cheerfully, but his sister simply scowled and put her bowl in sink, only half finished but wanting to get away from her father and brother. Just like every other morning, Nathan walked Cassie to the bus stop. While their journeys were usually filled with Cassie chatting animatedly about things that Nathan didn't even pretend to be interested in, he missed her talking when she was silent and moody. Her mood switched instantly when she saw a few of her friends at the stop, and she hurried over to talk to them. Hearing her voice projected to other people stung Nathan more than he cared to admit, and it put him in a stormy mood for the rest of the day; especially when she barely even glanced at him as he waved her off after she had clambered onto the bus.

His mood was far from improved when he had to sit in English class and listen his teacher burble on about Hemingway. Who cared, _really _cared that Hemingway was frustrated?

I'm frustrated, Nathan thought bitterly, with a father who is perpetuately disappointed, a mother who's never home, and a sister who refuses to speak to me.

Nathan couldn't help but wonder, as Lucas's fists were pummelling him a few minutes later, if Hemingway was ever _frustrated_ by getting into a fight the personification of the cause of all his problems.

The walk home was just as quiet, but this time, Nathan didn't mind. He wasn't exactly in the 'chatty mood', and he just hoped his day didn't get any worse.

That idea was shattered the second he walked in and saw his father waiting for them, something that very rarely happened. Cassie sat herself on one of the stools and pulled out her homework, ignoring the two of them completely, but Nathan could just tell that his dad had _that_ look in his eye. Sure enough, it only took a minute for a smirk to twist its way onto Dan's face.

"So Nathan," he sneered "You want to tell me how getting into a fight with Lucas managed to fit into your day?"

It took a second for the words to settle in Cassie's ears, and once they did, she gathered up her things and ran from the room. The hurt expression she unintentionally shot her brother on her way past was almost enough to send him chasing after her, to apologise and make her talk to him, but he stopped himself because he knew she wouldn't. Instead, he scowled darkly at the smug expression on his father's face, and trudged up to his own room where he stayed for the rest of the night.

He spent the time asking himself when Dan Scott was going to stop making people's lives difficult for the sake of it.

Lucas waited for Cassie at the river court for almost an hour. He wasn't exactly in a sociable mood, but he didn't want to take that out on Cassie, and he started to get worried when she didn't turn up. He thought about going to look for her, just to be sure, but he honestly didn't have a clue where she might be. He paced along the asphalt, absent-mindedly bouncing the ball and hearing the satisfying smack as it hit the ground and came back to his outstretched hand. He waited for another ten minutes before finally making the decision to go and look for Cassie. He knew that it would probably cause more problems, especially if she was fine, but the ten year old had already demonstrated her capacity to wander around when and where she wasn't supposed to, and he'd much rather be safe than sorry.

However, before he fully left the court, he stopped, noticing his Uncle Keith's truck pulling up. He walked over, his brow furrowed slightly in confusion. Keith nodded for him to get in, so Lucas tossed his things in the back seat and clambered in next to his uncle. He listened intently as Keith explained what had happened the night before, rage bubbling up inside him when he heard about Dan slapping Cassie, even if Keith did assure him that even Dan seemed surprised by it and, no matter how much he didn't like his little brother, Keith didn't think Dan had done it intentionally. Lucas couldn't help but be disappointed when he heard that Cassie wasn't talking to anyone, especially since it was on his account, but at the same time, he felt kind of proud that she was standing up for herself.

Leaning back in his seat, he couldn't think of anything else to do but accept Keith's offer to drive him home, and they made the journey in silence. Lucas spent the time asking himself when Dan Scott was going to stop making people's lives difficult for the sake of it.


End file.
